Hi,I am a 55 yr old man that has been sick
for almost 2 years. It started out as
bronchitis at Xmas of 2005. The bronchitis
has subsided but I am still stuffed
up,earach/pain all the time and some days
constant drainage.
I have been on so many antibiotics that I
can't name them all. I was even on allergy
medicine and nothing has helped.
I was tested for
allergies(general,bloodwork)and it was
negative. I have had 2 sinus surgeries in
the past year and have had numerous CT
scans,brain scans,MRI's,spinal taps.
Everyone is stumped with this. I am
financially going to lose my
house,business,etc.with all that I have
been through.
I am a selfemployed farrier and had to
drop insurance because the premiums have
increased considerably.
Can anyone help me out? I have been to
Johns Hopkins hospital and
Phila.Hospital,Lehigh and Christianna
Hospitals. No one can give any answers. I
have also been to see 6 ENT doctors. They
all say nothing is wrong!
Please help!
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dave01
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 61 Location: Iowa
Posted: 08-03-07 20:08pm
I can definitely relate to you. I am also
a 55 year old man, self employed. Last
fall I developed a great sensitivity to
chemical odors, then insomnia, then
increasing pain starting in the back and
slowly developing elsewhere. I busted my
savings going to doctors - three trips to
Mayo Clinic, two MRIs. a DT scan, etc..
On the third trip one doctor sneered at me
and told me, "Nobody ever died of pain.
Just go home and get over it." Another
doctor the next day smiled at me and said,
"Well, at least we now know what's not
wrong with you." Then he told me to go to
a psychologist who would soon cure my
hypochondria. I actually did see a
psychologist who gave me the straight
scoop. He said upfront that my pain was
genuine, real, physical pain and was not
psychosomatic or the result of depression
and that my medical doctors needed to get
their act together (my words, not his).
After that my local doctor finally
diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. At that
point I had as good a medical education as
he did about fibromyalgia and we have
worked out a set of meds that have got me
functioning again - a sleeping med and two
meds for nerve pain. Now, although I have
constant pain, my pain levels are around 2
or 3 during the day. Before they were 9
or 10 (I can definitely tell you that 10
totally disables you, as you probably know
already).
My advice is to find something to at least
relieve your pain. Tylenol and ibuprofin
(Celebrex included) didn't touch my pain
as it was nerve pain. If you can't sleep
properly because of the pain, get a sleep
med that works. There are a lot out there
and I finally found a good sleep doc that
got me back to eight hours a night (not
high quality, but much better than the 0-4
hours I was getting).
Although it doesn't sound like you have
fibromyalgia (it took a long time for the
typical symptoms to develop in me) I would
bet that at this point you probably have
at least some form of autoimmune
disorder.
Believe me, I know what you are going
through. I am just now getting back to
work and trying to avoid living off the
government. 55 is much too young for us
to have this happen.
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HealthySex
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 414
Posted: 08-05-07 19:18pm
Normally, I'd make a huge post, but
sometimes I get sick of typing the same
thing and I never know if I wasted 20 mins
typing something they're not going to
listen to anyway. So I'll try one thing
that would lead to the same thing and
better...
Go to a naturopath. You've been to a
million doctors, so what have you got to
lose. They treat the cause, not the
symptom.
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grassy
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 116 Location: northeast
I Have An Idea Too Posted: 08-12-07 11:37am
When all else fails go try a
chiropracter.get a good experienced one.
they look for different things than do the
md's .They study the nerves. This is a
long shot, but i know that alot of ear
problems ARE caused by a persons upper
neck. The very upper part. Alot of times
in a baby.. if the baby has reoccuring ear
infections, chiropracters help that alot.
i ended up at one by accident, with
terrible symptoms, and he found what all
the tests and specialists missed. they
also have a vast knowledge in nutrition. I
also like the idea of a natureopath. good
luck!!!! cindy
